Ray Young Bear will be taking time off from a national book tour to discuss his latest work, “Remnants of the First Earth,” on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Big Table Books.

“The new book is an ongoing saga between two Black Eagle child friends,” Young Bear said. “It’s really a coming of age between two friends.”

In his first full length novel, Young Bear takes readers back to the Black Eagle Child Settlement on the wooded bluffs overlooking the Iowa and Swan Rivers.

From there, Young Bear introduces the culturally star-crossed protagonist Edgar Bearchild.

The story follows Bearchild’s life from his childhood in the 1950s to the present day.

“It includes childhood reminisces,” Young Bear said. “Some of the ideas for the book also come from my grandmother’s stories of methodology.”

The novel swirls through the present and into mysteries of age-old stories and myths that still haunt, inform and enlighten the Mesquakie community.

Young Bear, who has been writing and publishing since 1968, said he sees writing these kind of books as a challenge.

“You have to be very meticulous in writing,” he said. “For every page of text there is six to 10 pages of rewriting.”

The author described his work as both fiction and nonfiction.

“I try to make a creative bridge from these areas so I can switch from different fields,” he said. “One of the greatest challenges for me is being multi-faceted in nonfiction, fiction, poetry and novels.”

Currently, Young Bear is working on the third part of a trilogy that follows the critically acclaimed volume of poetry “Black Eagle Child.”

“The third part is going to be titled ‘The Tribal Chair Shall Conduct All Meetings,” Young Bear said. “It is a political parody about the tribal gambling enterprise and how people become divided over money.”

Like the first two in the series, the book will follow the main character Edgar Bearchild. Young Bear expects the book to be completed by 1999.

Besides being an accomplished writer, Young Bear is also a singer and drummer.

“My wife Stella and I lead the Black Eagle Child Dance Troop,” he said.

“They are a traditional performing arts group that informs the public on traditional Mesquakie performers.”

The next few months will be extremely busy for Young Bear. He is going to become a scheduled commentator for KUNI in Cedar Rapids and is going to continue his book tour through the Midwest.

He will appear along the West Coast later in the spring.

Young Bear’s other published works include two volumes of poetry, “Winter Of The Salamander” and “Invisible Musician” along with the novel “Black Eagle Child: The Facepaint Narratives.”

Young Bear’s appearance Friday is free and open to the public.